Climber Purnima Shrestha enlisted among CNN’s extreme athletes of 2024

Kathmandu / Dec. 29: Purnima Shrestha, a Nepali photojournalist and mountaineer, has been named among CNN’s “The extreme athletes who pushed limits in 2024,” following her extraordinary achievement of summiting Mount Everest three times within two weeks.

Shrestha climbed the world’s highest peak on May 12, 19, and 25, becoming the first woman in history to achieve such a feat in a single climbing season, stated the CNN while unveiling the list. She expressed her pride and gratitude on social media after being included in the prestigious list, calling 2024 “a historic year in my life.”

In addition to her Everest triumphs, Shrestha is the first Nepali woman to summit Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh-highest mountain, which she accomplished in 2021 together with Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita.

Shrestha’s accomplishments have been hailed as groundbreaking for women in mountaineering, showcasing the determination and resilience required to challenge the limits of human endurance.

Others on the list of extreme athletes in 2024 are Russ Cook, who ran the length of Africa, Jasmin Paris, the first woman ever to finish the Barkley Marathons; Lachlan Morton, the fastest person to cycle around Australia; Lael Wilcox, fastest woman to cycle around the world; Lael Wilcox, fastest woman to cycle around the world; Kilian Jornet, who ran and/or climbed all 82 Alpine peaks in 19 days; Sebastian Steudtner, who surfed the ‘unsurfable’; and Biniam Girmay, the Black African cyclist making history wherever he rides.